Read. Find plateaus in pricing. Sometimes even doubling the money you are willing to spend will not get you more value. Define your need and set strong goals of what you expect. Buying is an addiction, get past it soon to enjoy the music you love. After all, it's all about the music.

Often so-called audiophiles are searching for a particular sound that they like to hear. Maybe a particular sound that is not necessarily faithful to the original; hence not really "high fidelity" as the term was originally meant to be. If "sizzle-boom" is what you want then don't call yourself an audiophile - try "sound freak" instead. There are certain characteristics of reproduced live sound that are as real time as the original as it can get: Smoothness, Clarity, Accuracy, Naturalness. SCAN Sound. If you can achieve all four of these in your system of choice, you have it!